Other Women (26 page)

What happened to Jane in Sydney is largely speculation. She had not got over Geoff’s disappearance and had followed him back to the city. He had left an address this time, for his workplace, not his home. Jane had taken what money she had, enough for a train trip and a couple of nights in a hotel. She saw Geoff, who had hoped she would follow him, and he paid for her to stay a fortnight in the hotel.

Geoff was married, true, but he was desperately unhappy. His wife wanted him to succeed in business, to climb the social ladder and to keep up their level of living. He told Jane he was sick of it, he’d never really loved his wife and had thought of nothing but finding his Jane again. And she fell for it.

The plan was for Geoff to tell his wife he was leaving her and then he and Jane would find a small flat somewhere, far enough from the abandoned wife so she couldn’t make trouble but close enough so he could see his kids. Jane waited every day for his return from work, when she would spend time with Geoff and ask if he’d told his wife about them yet. Each time he gave an excuse for not telling her. It was harder than he thought, he said, he really didn’t want to hurt her more than he could help it. Jane needed to be patient.

On the second to last day of the fortnight Geoff came to the hotel late. He was in a bad mood and needed cheering up, he said. They went to dinner and then back to the hotel, and then Geoff announced he had to tell her something. Jane could probably already tell that is wasn’t good news for her. Geoff had decided it wasn’t possible for him to leave his wife after all. They’d talked hard and long about it and they’d decided to give their marriage another go. Geoff was so sorry, but he needed to think of his family.

Maybe Jane made a scene but if she did it was to no effect. Geoff kissed her and left, telling her not to try to contact him, or his wife would call the police. What a slap in the face. There was no option for Jane except to pack her bag and spend her last amount of money on her train ticket home.

John took her back, no questions asked; the children were thrilled to see mummy after her holiday. And that was the end of the matter. Jane was pregnant but she never knew if it was her husband’s child or her lover’s, but this time she made sure it was hers.

The second story is set in England and begins in the 1970s. Again the names will be fictional as none were given in the original version I heard. The man in this story I will call Trevor; he was the headmaster of a primary school and a good upstanding citizen. He was married to Helen and they had four children. As headmaster Trevor often had to stay back at school working late; there was marking to do, reports to be written and there were endless meetings. None of this was out of the ordinary for a man in his position. The kids who went to his school and then on to the local comprehensive were a conscientious lot and all did well enough to go to university.

When Trevor’s own children left home he decided to retire. Helen thought that at last they’d have some time together, perhaps travel, move to the seaside. But Trevor was reluctant to move. They did have a couple of holidays abroad but Trevor was always a bit anxious about getting home again. And then he decided to take on some casual teaching work. His pension wasn’t really adequate, although Helen didn’t see why that should be so, but the money wasn’t there so she agreed to let him do more teaching if that’s what he really wanted. Trevor continued teaching for several years into his retirement and then he had to stop as he had a stroke. And then he died.

It was at the funeral that the truth came out. Trevor had been leading a double life. He was married to Helen but some years after their marriage he fell in love with a much younger woman and set up house with her. They didn’t live that far away from his house with Helen, although the children from his relationship with his mistress didn’t go to the same school he taught at. His mistress knew all about the wife but Helen knew nothing about the mistress. Trevor had been so careful, so organised, so businesslike that it seemed impossible for a man like that to have been so devious. He’d even called his children with his mistress the same names as the ones he had with Helen so that he wouldn’t get caught out saying the wrong thing and arousing suspicion. The two women were polite to each other but that was all. The children from both sides, however, were intrigued that their father had been so interesting and they all enjoyed having extra siblings.

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First published in 2013

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